Has SMU lost its Key Bank eligibility

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SMU has apparently been removed from eligibility for both Achiever and MedAchiever loans with Key Bank as have Saba, MUA, St James and possibly others.

I am not saying this is for sure but they are having a hissy-fit over on the Saba board over this and after going through the Key Bank website and starting an application just to verify, it appears this is indeed the case.

JP, please respond as soon as possible because if this is true this is going to absolutely decimate my funding for school, as it will for many i would imagine.

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This is one of those situations where I don't want to say anything until there was something to say. I know that about five minutes before I left on Friday there was a call from Key Bank, but I did not know what it was about.

I called Dr. Thornton after noticing the discussion yesterday. He says that they are investigating and speaking with Key Bank, and that there will be an announcement on Monday (tomorrow).

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Personally, I always found Key Bank's criteria for eligible schools to be faulty and inviting of trouble. I mean, they were loaning money to students of St James and St Christopher, neither of which have licensed graduates or for that matter more than just a handful (3 or 4, IF that) of students in residency.

There should be some kind of law against just up and cutting off a school in mid-yr with no warning. I'm sure in the fine print technically they can do whatever they want, but it's just so wrong.

On the other hand, if there was a high default rate on the collective part of these schools, I guess you can't really blame them.

I know there's no point to baseless speculation as i am doing, but this has hit me out of the blue and I am really taken aback and nervous. Because Teri seems to me to have stricter credit history criteria and also doesn't loan enough to cover everything.

Key Bank

It would be interesting to see what was behind Key Bank's thought process. The decision was not across the board because SGU and Ross are still on their list of their approved schools.

It is pretty 'low rent' for Key Bank to make this decision just a few weeks before the start of the semester. They didn't just come to work on Friday and decide to change their lending policies. One would think they would have at least given a month or two notice to allow the students to obtain other financing.

Remember this when you go to finance your house or new equipment in your practice.

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Yes, Gilbert, I noticed that Ross/SGU are still eligible for Key. However, AUC is not, but then again I don't know they ever were as they have Stafford anyway and consequently have numerous loan affiliations.

I really don't think anyone can legitimately say SMU in on par with big 3, however I do believe the school was headed there, and quickly at that, but this has been a bad few months for the trajectory of the school, with the hurricane and now this.

Having said that, I still don't think by any stretch we can be classified with places like St James and St Chris. Exactly what does one do now? I suppose joining the masters thing will be a must, along with further efforts to obtain the difference between the stafford amt and total costs.

I think obviously the announcement will just be the official news of this unfortunate development. What's more, I think there are relatively few of this in this boat. For reasons I am certain of yet do not wish to elaborate on for fear of starting some unnecessary feud here, I think this will affect a relatively small part of the 1st term (now 2nd term) class.

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It's not sour grapes, it is a judgement based on the facts.

SC/SJ have just 3-4 graduates, a generous estimate, in residency and no licensed grads. SC has serious charter and accreditation issues. Both schools have zero admission standards and do not enforce prereq requirements. Therefore, I personally regard as odd the willingness of a bank to loan money to students with establishments holding these records. If that were to change in the future, that is a different matter.

It's not about misery loving company. I readily acknowledge SMU is not big 3 material, but it is simply not in the same league with SC/SJ. Again, that's based on facts like number of students in residency, licensed grads, and important benchmarks like NY approval (which it has) and Cali approval (which was in its final stages when the storm hit). Even to play devil's advocate and say it wouldn't have received Cal approval (which the Cal board wouldn't want a second visit if that were true) ask your how many light-years away SJ/SC from even a board visit by cal, never mind NY?

(Can you guys tell I am really bored today? Stuck in Portland at the Residence Inn, which has never been a hotbed of good times, waiting for my flight tomorrow)